Afton native Diggins selected as closing ceremony flag bearer

A gold medalist from Minnesota will get the honor to carry the American flag during the 2018 Winter Olympics Closing Ceremonies. She will lead the American delegation into Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium just hours after competing in the final event of the Games, the 30-kilometer mass start classic.

Diggins was chosen by a vote from fellow members of Team USA.

We look forward to seeing Diggins rep the United States during the closing ceremony.

"This is such an incredible honor for me", said Diggins. "I'm really humbled and moved that the athletes voted for me".

Diggins and partner Kikkan Randall become the first American cross-country skiers to ever win an Olympic gold medal.

This becomes the first time women have been picked as USA flagbearers for both the opening and closing of an Olympics since 2004, when basketball's Dawn Staley led the Americans into the Athens Games and soccer's Mia Hamm carried the flag out.

Jessica Diggins and Kikkan Randall of the USA (C) celebrate winning gold as they stand on the podium with athletes of Norway and Sweden.

PYEONGCHANG-GUN, SOUTH KOREA - FEBRUARY 23: U.S. Olympians Jessica Diggins and Kikkan Randall attend the USA House at the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games on February 23, 2018 in Pyeongchang-gun, South Korea. It came down to a near-photo finish as Diggins gutted it out to beat the team from Sweden, and win the US its second medal in cross-country skiing Olympic history. She also was sixth in the classic sprint. The only other medal was a bronze in 1976.

Diggins finished fifth in the 30km freestyle at the 2017 world championships, the best finish ever for the U.S.in that distance at that event.